Secret documents are found all over Biden’s house
2023.01.18 14:45
Secret documents are found all over Biden’s house
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – The White House said on Tuesday that it would respond to questions from lawmakers about the improper storage of classified documents at the home and former office of President Joe Biden in “good faith,” while also accusing Republicans of being hypocritical in their pursuit of the issue.
The Democratic president’s counsel stated on Saturday that five additional pages with classified markings had been discovered at Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, residence and that those documents had been immediately given to representatives from the Justice Department.
A second batch of classified documents was previously discovered by aides at his residence and a Washington think tank where he had an office following his time as vice president under the Obama administration. A special counsel has been appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the matter.
Since the initial reports of the documents’ discovery, the White House has largely been defensive. The public was not informed of the situation until the beginning of January. Before the midterm elections, which will determine which party controls Congress, Biden’s lawyers made their initial discovery of classified material at the beginning of November.
Republicans have made accusations that Biden’s team is concealing the findings as a result.
Trump’s handling of highly sensitive classified documents that he kept at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021 is the subject of separate investigation by the department.
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Ian Sams attempted to make a comparison between the prolonged drama that resulted in Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s election as speaker of the House earlier this month and the current situation.
Sams told reporters, referring to former President Donald Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” that “they’re faking outrage about disclosure and transparency at the same time, for example, that they will not ask their speaker to release the secret deals that he made in order to get support from the far-right extreme MAGA members of his caucus.”
According to Sams, “We’re learning drip by drip, bit by bit, the types of things he gave away in those negotiations and the serious impact they have on the American public.”
McCarthy made a lot of concessions in order to get the speakership. One of these concessions was a rule that said any of the 435 House members could make a vote to remove him at any time.
McCarthy has stated that additional information regarding the Biden documents is required, including whether “more out there” exist.
In the midst of Republican criticism and inquiries regarding the length of time it took to inform the public about the documents, the briefing given by Sams, a spokesman who is employed by the White House counsel’s office, appeared to be designed in part to reclaim the offensive.
According to Sams, frequent disclosures during an investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) could lead to inaccurate responses. He said that the answers to some questions might not come until the special counsel’s investigation was done.
“We understand that there is a tension between the need to cooperate with an ongoing DOJ investigation and the rightful demands for additional public information, so we’re trying to strike that balance,” Sams stated. “We’re trying to strike that balance.”
Sams said he would not describe conversations between the Justice Department and Biden’s lawyers when asked if the White House had requested that specific information not be made public.
Sams stated that the White House had received “a few letters” on the subject from the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, that it was reviewing them, and that it would decide in due time how to respond.
“Our commitment is to cooperate with Congress in good faith.” “We’re going to operate in good faith when they make a request,” he stated. We just expect the same good faith from Congress members.”
Last week, a reporter questioned Biden about the wisdom of keeping important documents close to his Corvette sports car. He noted that they were both in a garage that was locked.
Tuesday, the White House reaffirmed Biden’s commitment to assisting the Justice Department in its investigation.
Sams lashed out at Republicans for reacting differently to the document disclosures about Biden and Trump.
Sams said, “These are the same Republicans who didn’t make a peep” about how Trump handled classified information. And when they did make a sound, they frequently justified it.”
